Overview
A target block converts accuracy into a redstone signal. Hit it with any projectile — an arrow, a snowball, an egg, a trident, a fishing bobber — and it emits a signal whose strength depends on how close the hit landed to the centre of the face: a bullseye gives 15 and the outer edge gives 1. The signal lasts a moment and then fades, which makes it a pulse source rather than a switch. Two things follow from that. First, it is the natural input for anything that should be triggered at a distance without wiring: a door you shoot open, a light you turn on from across a room, a minecart dispatcher, a scoring circuit in an archery range. Second, because the strength varies, a comparator behind a target can tell how good the shot was, which is how score-based minigames are built without command blocks. Arrows stick in a target and can be retrieved, unlike arrows that hit a normal block and vanish over time. A target block also slows down and stops arrows fired into it, making it a useful backstop behind a dispenser-based arrow farm.
Triggering redstone from a distance with a bow or a snowball, scoring archery ranges through a comparator, and acting as an arrow catcher you can collect ammunition from.
In Minecraft 1.21.4, Target is a redstone block. Target is made at a crafting table. A hardness of 0.5 means it is one of the quicker blocks to clear.
No specific tool is required to collect it. Broken correctly, it drops itself. It offers almost no protection from explosions (0.5 blast resistance).
A full stack holds 64. It is crafted from Redstone Dust and Hay Bale. Nothing on the crafting grid is made from it.
How to get it
Craft it from 4 redstone dust and 1 hay bale, which is 9 wheat. Both ingredients are renewable and cheap, so a target is one of the few redstone components you can mass-produce from a farm.
Tips
- A dead-centre hit gives signal 15 and the rim gives 1, so a comparator behind it reads your accuracy directly.
- Snowballs and eggs trigger it too, which means an infinite-ammo trigger from a snow golem farm.
- Arrows stick in the block and can be picked back up, unlike arrows that hit stone.
- Wind charges from a breeze also activate targets, which is worth remembering inside a trial chamber.
How long it takes to break
At a hardness of 0.5, Target takes 0.75 seconds to punch out and 0.1 seconds with a netherite-tier tool of the correct class.
Iron takes 0.15 seconds against diamond's 0.1, so the upgrade worth making for this block is the one to diamond.
The drop does not depend on the tool — bare hands work as well as anything — so the table below is purely about speed.
Efficiency contributes its level squared plus one to tool speed, which makes Efficiency V roughly 2 times faster than the plain tool.
| Tool | No enchantment | Efficiency III | Efficiency V |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hand | 0.75 s | 0.75 s | 0.75 s |
| Wooden | 0.4 s | 0.1 s | instant |
| Stone | 0.2 s | 0.1 s | instant |
| Iron | 0.15 s | instant | instant |
| Diamond | 0.1 s | instant | instant |
| Netherite | 0.1 s | instant | instant |
| Golden | 0.1 s | instant | instant |
Properties
Target resists blasts at 0.5, which is not enough to survive anything explosive nearby. Light does not pass through it, and it emits none of its own. Stack size is 64 — the standard full stack. Flammable, at encouragement 60 and burn 20: build with it away from lava, and do not use it as a wall you care about. A hoe is the fastest choice here. A tool of the wrong class is no better than your fist — the speed bonus is tied to the block's own tool tag.
- Transparent
- No
- Required tool
- Any
- Flammable
- Yes (60/20)
Crafting recipe
Crafting Table
Target
Drops
Mined with any, Target drops itself.
Guides and tools that cover this
Frequently asked questions
How do you get Target in Minecraft?
Target is crafted from Redstone Dust and Hay Bale.
What tool do you need to break Target?
No specific tool is required — Target can be broken by hand.
Is Target blast resistant?
Target has a blast resistance of 0.5, so an explosion nearby will destroy it.
How many Target fit in one stack?
A stack is 64, and a double chest of them comes to 3,456.
How long does Target take to break?
About 0.1 seconds if you bring the correct netherite tool; 0.75 seconds with your fists.
